The Long Night
by spyguy181
Summary: Adamant Fortress stands alone and strong against the Abyss. During the Second Blight, millions of Darkspawn poured out of the dark abyss. In one night hundreds of thousands of darkspawn were slaughtered. Follow Grey Warden Jacques as he battles the whole night. Losing comrades and just praying for it to end.


The sun was high and the heat was awful. There was desert all around him oasis's dotted the area. Phoenix's and Hyenas roamed looking for prey. There was something else looking for prey. Something that turned the ground black, made dark clouds roll into the sky, and turned the land foul. The Darkspawn. Jacques was stationed at adamant, a fortress built by the dwarves. But the Grey Wardens were set up there now. Over a thousand Grey Wardens had been assigned to the fortress and even more to the surrounding area. Jaquese's feet sank into the sand as he walked. He looking for signs of darkspawn. Signs because he could sense them, millions of them, in fact, all underground. Beside him were two other Grey Wardens. One was a Free Marcher from the town of Wycome, a small fishing town. His name was Noah he was tall, bulky, had blue heavy griffin plate armor. Blonde hair that was lighter than the sand, and green eyes that looked like Veridium. Jacques was from Orlais, Val Royeaux in fact. He had Griffin mail that was also blue, a long sword and a dagger, black hair, a slight beard, and brown eyes, he wasn't tall or short, wasn't fat nor skinny. He came from Noble stock but yet despised _"The Game"_. Finally, there was Fabio, a rather weird Antivan mage. Taken right from the Antiva City tower. He wore Griffon battlemage robes, carried a staff that shot fire from its tip, he had slightly red hair short and stocky.

"I feel the damn blighters right beneath our feet." Fabio piped up.

"We all do, but we need to see where they are on the surface," Jaquese responded still searching for any sign.

"I'm just waiting for them to come out of the Abyss," Noah looked cautiously. The Abyss is what they called the giant canyon that most of the fortifications overlooked. So far down it was dark. Almost made you understand why they were called darkspawn. Grey Warden intelligence was expecting that Maker-forsaken Abyss to explode at any point. They've sensed so much Darkspawn that they expect the Archdemon to appear. Though no Warden can really tell just because the sheer size is messing with how they sense. The group stopped they felt a darkspawn group. About seven to ten, if they sensed the darkspawn, the darkspawn sensed them. Fabio ran up a dune and brought his stuff down onto a Hurlock alpha crushing its slimy head underneath. He shot fireballs from his staff at the other nine. Jacques ran up the dune with sword and dagger drawn he slashed and diced a Hurlock. Cutting into its tainted body. Bits of flesh flying out with each exertion. They fought through the rest of the darkspawn with ease and gathered themselves. Noah cleaned off his greatsword.

"Alright, now, where did they come from?" They took a quick survey of the area and noticed a cave. They moved over carefully making sure no darkspawn was around. They got to the entrance.

"I feel them," Fabio said in a voice deprived of emotion. The other two nodded in agreement. They had found the spot at which darkspawn was sending patrols. They headed back to Adamant. Tired feet dragging the sand. Finally, the arrived back at the fortress and met the most senior Grey Warden there. Grey Warden Chamberlain Cornelia. She was from Minrathrous, a slave conscripted when the Grey Wardens went and reinforced the city. She wore her badge and her platinum blonde hair fell just in front of it.

"I hear you found where some of the Darkspawn patrols are coming from?"

"Yes, from right here." Jacques pointed to the cave on the map.

"Very good I will have some sappers block the entrance."

"You hear what they're saying too, right?" Noah asked the Chamberlain. Cornelia looked away and at the ground. It was hard for a Warden not to hear it. The horde was listening to the Archdemon. The old god was saying only one thing, _"Attack them at night." _This was gonna be the end, millions of darkspawn just pouring out. We had a job to do, defend this area all costs. If they didn't Orlais, Ferelden, everywhere would fall to the blight. But if they beat them back, the Archdemon wouldn't try to use this area again. Jacques walked to where they kept the Griffons. The stables were filled and even more in the underground stables. There was one, it wore armor like the rest and had this stare that eyed you down. Scars covered its face from previous battles. The only difference between him and other Griffons was that it had a swath of red feathers. Its name on it's stable said "_Red_." and underneath it, "_Senior Warden Jacques_."

"Listen Red, there coming tonight. I'm gonna need you to do what you always do and keep me safe." The Griffon nuzzled its brother in arm. "I love you Red."

Jacques moved to his tent. It was a little past noon but he wanted to get sleep before all shit broke loose. he got near his cot, got on his knees like a Tevinter slave begging for mercy. He repeated something he always said before the eve of battle. "Andraste, Maker, protect me from the Darkspawn shield me from harm once more. Let me fix the sins of humans, in hopes the black city turns gold once more. Maker, Andraste, protect me."


End file.
